When
I am in Belarus, I feel like I am in a far away land, even though it
is only about a 12 hour drive from Berlin. Maybe it is just the thought that the country is run by a
dictator, of whom we are told, has amassed a personal fortune at the
expense of the people he governs. We have heard that spies are
everywhere and apartments are bugged. However, even though
unemployment and poverty are high, the people seem to be generally
satisfied with life.
The
President has an 11 year old son, alleged to be birthed by his personal doctor and who goes with
him wherever he goes. It seems he is already grooming his spoiled
son to take control of the country when he comes of age. From
reports, it sounds like he already has complete control of his dad.
His son carries his own golden pistol and has been given medals that soldiers took years to
achieve.
Once
we were driving in the downtown area and traffic came to a stop. Our
host said, “It is probably because of the president.” Sure
enough, on the other side of the now cleared highway, came black car
after black car with flags – then a big Hummer-type car – some
fancy cars and then more black cars following – to disguise which
car the President was actually in. We were told this is a common
occurrence in Belarus.
It
is rare to see old buildings in Belarus like you see in Europe. Most
of the country was completely destroyed in WW2. What you see are
communist looking high-rise buildings and Russian art and huge
statues of Stalin or war hero's.
We were a bit surprised to also see
McDonalds and KFC. We had thought the communist leanings were still
prevalent but we saw that capitalism is also flourishing to some
degree. We heard that it is almost impossible to become rich in
Belarus due to the weak market and constant inflation.
I have been in Belarus twice on “Victory Day” held every May 9th.
The city celebrate's their victory over Hitler by covering the
downtown streets with flags and banners. Their war arsenal: tanks,
jeeps and guns are brought out and paraded down the street along with
women in traditional costume and young military men and women proudly
displaying their military uniforms and badges. The President gives a
speech and everyone looks happy and gay.
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| Victory Day Parade - 2014 |
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Starting
in 2014, the Christians were allowed for the first time in twelve
years, to operate a stage in the park with Christian musicians. They
still had to be careful to not be too “preachy” but it was quite
the break-through that they were even given permission. It may have
been because May 2014 was when the world ice-hockey competitions were
held in Minsk and the President wanted to show the world that there
is religious freedom in Belarus. However, the Christians were
allowed, once again, in 2015 to use the stage for Christian music.
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| Thilo singing on stage in the park |
The
countryside in Belarus is very green and we saw a lot of beautiful
lakes. In my opinion, the most charming thing about Belarus is the
Dachas, which are small summer-cabins that many Belarusians own and
travel to on weekends and in summer. When I first saw them, I
thought their cute colors and fences were unique to the village I was
in, but I learned that the Dacha's in every village in Belarus look
very much the same. Many villages have no running water and the dacha
owners draw their water from a well that several families use.
The
Dacha's are often painted in bright blues, greens and pinks and have
the cutest picket fences that are also painted. The women work hard
in the gardens while the men seem to occupy their time with building
projects or chopping wood for Banja (sauna).
There
is a saying in Belarus that everyone is a millionaire. That's
because inflation is so high. A
million Belarusian rubbles is comparable to around 70. dollars. One
day in a park, we came upon a fountain where instead of coins being
tossed in, there were paper bills floating in the water. It is a
funny experience to go to the grocery store and take out a wad of
bills that seem as thick as your arm and watch the cashier count
them. Everyone is patient.
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| Money floating in fountain |
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| This is about 2 euros! |
We
were privileged to be the guests in a home that was recently finished
enough for guests. It was announced that we were the very first
guests to stay in their house! It was a beautiful, huge house. Even
by American standards, it was big and we rarely saw an average-sized
home in the outlying neighborhoods which surround the city of Minsk.
We
learned that due to the bad economy, you cannot get loans to build
houses, therefore, you pay as you go, so the average home takes over
twelve years to build. You have to wait until you have cash on hand.
It takes a long time and is a lot of hard work, however, once the
house is built, it is yours, free and clear.
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| Typical Sight: House in progress |
The
houses are very similar to American houses except that they are built
from concrete blocks instead of wood. The home we stayed in had
beautiful tiled and wood flooring; spacious bathrooms, and modern
kitchen.
However,
your average Belarusian lives in the city in an apartment. We heard
that it is very hard to obtain an apartment so most kids live with
their parents until they get married or stay with their family
forever and eventually inherit the apartment.
Our
host family was extremely musical and artistically talented. The
eldest son is a drummer and sound-engineer who has produced albums.
The second son is an accomplished pianist, conductor, composer and
worship leader. One day I was resting on my bed and suddenly heard
the most beautiful strains of Bach flowing from the piano in their
dining room. I had to stop what I was doing to listen. The flowing,
pounding music brought chills. It only lasted about 20 minutes and I
was hoping to hear more. Later, I learned that this was a common
occurrence of that son. He would arrive home and immediately sit down
at the piano and play wildly for 10 or 15 minutes, even if he arrived
home at 11pm. No one ever said a word. I loved it.
The
youngest child is an artist and you could see her art everywhere.
She painted a huge melon on the wall in the basement kitchen (which
was a kitchen for guests or party use) but the most impressive art
was on the wall in her bedroom where she had painstakingly done
swirls and designs with a black pen. You would have to see it, to
recognise how brilliant it is. She is also most accomplished in
faces and we were blown away by the poignancy and creativity of her
art.
The
parents are also amazing musicians, leaders, visionaries, pastors and
hard-workers. They travel to the United States more often that we
do! They have relatives living in Minnesota. Almost everyone we met
had relatives somewhere in the United States. Most of the
Belarusian's I met were proud to be Belarusian's and wanted to stay
in their own country to make it a better place. No one seemed
concerned about Russia's influence or loosing personal freedoms
although every Christian is aware that not too long ago their
Christian grandparents were imprisoned for their faith. Our host's
father was an alcoholic who was sent to prison and there he met
Jesus, through a fellow prisoner - a pastor imprisoned for his faith.
Our host's father, came out of that prison a changed man and lived
the remainder of his life sober and helping to advance the kingdom of
Jesus.
Here
are some cultural things that I found interesting. You do not flush
toilet paper down the toilet! That was a very hard one for us to
deal with and remember. Over and over, we would say, “Oh, I
forgot!” There are small garbage cans next to each toilet and
these are emptied almost every day . I looked on-line to find the
reasons for not flushing toilet paper down the toilet and found
varied reasons. Some said that the toilet paper in some countries
does not dissolve well. Some said the pipes are laid funny and
therefore clog up easily. Some said, that it is simply culture and
habit and that they no longer need to do so, but still do. I
wondered if this was true for the home we were staying in as it was
brand new built and you would think that modern plumbing could handle
toilet paper. However, the toilet in the basement did clog up
several times. I talked to one Belarusian about this and she said
that in some homes, you can flush the toilet paper down
the toilet and that you have to look and see if there is a
garbage-can next to the toilet and if there is, always use it!
I
enjoyed the cultural habit of serving soup before every meal. It was
always a hot soup and usually with a chicken broth, potatoes, carrots
and a grain. It was always tasty. Belarusian's are known for serving
many items at the dinner table. Their hot meal is in the afternoon,
just like Europeans. For them, it is a culture shock to see only
meat, potatoes and a vegetable on a table as opposed to meat,
potatoes, two different salads, a hot vegetable, as well as small
plates of cucumbers, tomatoes and cheese.
They make delicious cakes,
one of which is layered with honey. I loved the fresh salads and
they do beet salads very well. My favorite Belarusian food is
Shashlik (or Kabab) which is grilled, lamb, pork or beef on skewers.
Shashlik was a common street food on the streets of St. Petersburg,
Russia in the 1920's. It is traditionally marinated overnight in a
vinegar mixture and cooked the next day over a fire grill. Mmmm, it
is so delicious!
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Shashlik on grill
They also drink lots of juice made from fresh
berries and water. The
most famous Belarusian food is Draniki, (potato pancakes). They are
delicious and are served with sour cream which was some of the best
sour cream I've ever had. Their milk is particularly good as well. |
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| Home-made juice |
One
cultural difference that I could not get used to was the male
dominance. The women tend to be more feminine than women from Western
countries and wear lots of make-up, high heels and short skirts while
the men are MEN! When a man enters a room with men and women, he
will only shake the men's hands and either completely ignore the
women or give them a slight not. At first, I took it personal. As I
was usually the oldest person in the room, I thought, “Well, I
guess I'm just not cool enough for them,” and then I started
observing that it happened to all the women. The men had no problem
shaking my hand, if I held it out first. I don't believe the women
in Belarus feel that they are being demeaned, it is just their way.
I did feel demeaned. There was just something in the air and often I
felt as if I was not “listened” to. We were at a party and the
men spoke to the men and the women were silent. Of course, that
might have been unique to our particular situation but overall, you
can “feel” that it is a male-dominated society.
Most
of our time was spent in the countries capital, Minsk but our last
weekend we were privileged to travel to a small village about 2 hours
from the border town of Brest. There we stayed in a 2-bedroom, 1
bath house with a wonderful, loving Christian family. They raised 6
children in that small flat. The toilet was just a small room only
big enough to stand in. Next to the toilet was another small room
barely big enough for a bathtub/shower, sink and washing machine.
We
were welcomed into their home like royalty. They fed us the most
amazing, wonderful food and as we ate, they hovered over us, making
sure we had all we needed. I had tears in my eyes because through
these simple people, I felt the love of our heavenly Father.
We
had to have an interpreter to speak as the family spoke no english.
They had a friend, an English teacher, who offered her services. The
mother of the house told us that her husband, “Is a saint! People
just don't know.” She told us that they arrived in their village
20 years ago and they were the ONLY Christians in the whole village.
The people had never met a Christian. Her husband, who is an
accomplished musician on the violin and accordion, started performing
on the street and evangelising. Soon, some became Christians and
they started a church in their home. Today that church is some 200
people with about 50 teens in their youth group. Through help from
the United States, they have built a wonderful building to hold
services with an outdoor pool for baptisms. The Lord also blessed
the church so they could buy property in the country, (not far from
their homes – maybe a 20 minute drive). With the property came an
abandoned school house that sits on about 20 acres and is near a lake
with a sandy shore. Every summer, they hold kids camps on the
property. They are slowly, slowly refurbishing the old school
building and plan to turn it into a drug/alcohol rehabilitation
center.
Alcoholism
is a huge problem in Belarus. We asked a young Christian guy if he
ever drinks alcohol and his answer was, “Of course not. Alcoholism
is a huge problem and it is in our blood. If we drink, we may easily
become alcoholics.” When we ministered prayer in the church of
that village, person after person was asking prayer for either their
husband or son who was lost on alcohol. It was very heart-breaking.
I
feel so blessed that I got to meet those loving Belarusians who care
and are giving their lives for their fellow-men to show them a better
way and willing to give all to bring others to Jesus.
The
hearts of the people will call us back to Belarus far more than the
wonderful food, fun Dachas and beautiful countryside. The people are
loving, warm-hearted and so creative. I don't know when I've been
around a group of more creative people. They welcomed us into their
homes and hearts and we will never forget them.
